Summer Newsletter

LASSWADE HIGH SCHOOL CENTRE SUMMER NEWSLETTER Race For Life

Junior Prizegiving Junior Prizegiving took place on Monday 18 June where a large number of S1 – S3 pupils received awards for effort participation and achievement.

On Sunday 17 June, a group of almost 30 female staff and girls, walked, jogged or ran in the Race For Life as a “Lasswade Lassie” raising money for Cancer Research.

Despite the bad weather, heavy rain showers and the park being water-logged, a great time was had by all as the crowd gave us so much support.

The “Lasswade Lassies” raised almost £2000 which brings our total to around £27,000 for Cancer Research over the years we have entered.

Well done to all the “Girls”!

Parents, pupils, staff and guests were also entertained by a selection of excellent musical interludes.

Blair Jones and Rebekah Lansley gave reports on the progress of the new school and Lasswade through the year.

Prizes were presented by Chelsea Martin, Head Girl and Eilidh Mackenzie depute Head Girl.

LASSWADE HIGH SCHOOL CENTRE SUMMER NEWSLETTER Office Bearers

The school office bearers for 2012-13 were selected after interviews took place last week. Olivia Bird and Ryan Brown our head girl and boy are pictured here with their deputes. Calum Murray, Chloe Thomson, Ailis Dale and Billy Duffy.

Heartstart Olympic Torch

In May every S1 (now S2) pupil took part in the British Heart Foundation course, Heartstart, which teaches them Emergency Life Skills such as how to put a casualty into the Recovery Position and CPR (heart compressions and rescue breaths).

The feedback from the pupils was excellent and they now have a certificate for their efforts, as well as the skills to save a life.

Thanks also to the team of trained staff who gave up their time to teach the course.

At 8.40 am the pupils of Lasswade High School and the bordering schools went to witness the Olympic torch‟s glory with their own eyes. It took about 15 minutes for the pupils to walk down to the outside of the Laird and Dog Inn. Once they arrived their shouts didn‟t even match the screams and shouts of everyone else there – the atmosphere was electric. The audience was in such suspense that every time a car drove past people would look around in wonder to see if the torch was about to make its run past them but hopes rose only to fall back down again once they realised it was just another person in their car trying to make their way to work . Many roads were closed because of the flame, but the drivers didn‟t care because it was such a tremendous event, a few closed roads is a small price to pay for an event Midlothian will never forget.

LASSWADE HIGH SCHOOL CENTRE SUMMER NEWSLETTER Salter’s Chemistry Festival

Many had been waiting on the side of the road for a long time just to catch a glimpse of the iconic flame that symbolises the start of the Olympic Games experience. Many people think of the Olympics and the torch as the bond that keeps all the countries together, feuds are forgotten and friendship is found between us through sportsmanship.

It was nearly time for the flame to pass and people‟s expectations were higher than ever and so was their suspense.

Time had passed and the torch was near, people could tell by the faraway shouts gradually getting louder. The audience know this could only be one thing and they were right. The torch passed by like a golden beacon of hope and dreams and the person carrying it could not be prouder to lift the torch high to symbolize the Olympic Games. The torch burned like it could never go out, but eventually it had passed with grace and was gone but not forgotten by the people of Midlothian. This could be the first and last time some people at the event ever see the torch but you only have to see it once to recognise its beauty and glory.

In the morning we did an experiment to try and solve a crime.

It involved splitting into pairs, doing one experiment, swapping and then compared answers.

The first experiment was finding the non metal part of a range of salts. We had to find which was the same as the „victims‟ sample. We added two chemicals to the salt and had to see what colour it went.

This was difficult as all the colours were very similar.

After lunch we did another experiment.

We had to use the allocated equipment and chemicals to make a solution of exactly 10.5°. We tried lots of different recipes before showing the judges but when we did our solution was exactly 10.5°.

Once we had completed this we listened to a short lecture before the prize giving.

Although we didn‟t win the first experiment, we came first in the second.

The whole team were shocked but really happy to have won. Overall I had a good day and I think others would enjoy it.

Aidan Steel

Eilidh Selfridge – 2SL2

LASSWADE HIGH SCHOOL CENTRE SUMMER NEWSLETTER S1/2 Fun with Food Cookery Club

Terms 1 and 2 of this session have been very busy on a Tuesday after school in the Home Economics Department.

Cookery Club has been very popular again this year with up to 40 pupils having lots of fun producing a range of sweet and savoury dishes. Coming along to club has helped several pupils to work with more confidence in the kitchen and develop stronger practical cookery skills.

Royal Highland Show 2012 32 pupils and 4 members of staff visited a very wet Royal Highland Show in June. This was another successful visit to Ingliston which was thoroughly enjoyed by all, despite the heavy rain! This year pupils had access to a workshop hosted by Quality Meat Scotland where they discovered „A Day in the Life of a Chef‟. Chefs and Home Economics teachers were on hand to work with our S4 pupils to successfully produce three easy, healthy meals in 15 minutes or less. Pupils produced their own flour, produced a computer report about sustainable food, milked Mabel the cow and tried lots of seafood and dairy products in the RHET discovery centre.

“I enjoyed seeing all the different stalls and getting to cook and taste the food that I made. I especially enjoyed seeing the horse riding and overall had a very good time despite the weather!”

Amber Kelly “It was a really good trip despite the weather. I enjoyed the food tasting at the stalls and the cooking.”

Katie Mc Intosh

LASSWADE HIGH SCHOOL CENTRE SUMMER NEWSLETTER The thing I enjoyed the most about the day was probably the free time we had to choose what to see and the ice-cream. I would definitely go back I really enjoyed it.”

Aaron Mc Intosh “The best thing was the cow ponchos and the ice cream” Louise Edwards “I enjoyed seeing the animals up close and the ice cream. I‟d go back!”

Leigh Mc Bain

“The Highland Show trip was really good.

There were lots to see and do. We got to cook different dishes and make little badges.

It was a fun day out and we got to go out of school for the day.”

Ellie Stewart

“My best experience of the day at the Highland show was having an Aberdeen Angus beef burger for my lunch and sitting in the new cars and tractors.”

Ryan Goodall “Best experience of the day was getting to cook. The thing I least liked was going on the bus. This was a brilliant day out and very fun.”

Scott Gunning

“The best part of the Highland show was finding a poncho. The most interesting part was seeing the police and using the speed cameras.”

Dylan King “What I learned at the Highland show: About how cars have to be insured even if you are not driving and its illegal to have more than 70% blacked out windows. I enjoyed the free time and tasting all of the food. The highlight of my day was buying a brilliant dog bowl for my dog.”

Jack Waddell

“I really enjoyed the whole day but it would have been better if it hadn‟t rained. My favourite part was the cooking!”

Joanna Ramsay “The whole day was good my favourite part was the cooking we did. I wish it hadn‟t rained!”

Maryam Yusaf “The best part was milking the cows and I have learned to make a quick and tasty snack food in 10 minutes.”Craig Forrest

LASSWADE HIGH SCHOOL CENTRE SUMMER NEWSLETTER Erins a winner!

Congratulations to Erin Feeley who won a ÂŁ100 Amazon voucher from the Scottish Credit Qualifications Framework for correctly filling in an online survey about the current Scottish examination system. Erin was one of only 100 student who managed to answer all the question correctly.

She is pictured here with Mrs Feeley (no relation!) and Mr Jaster.

S6 Biology Lab Visit

We went to the Roslin Biocentre for a tour and observation of the labs. We got to see the chemistry, microbiology and fermentation labs. The staff were very welcoming and our questions were addressed. It was an insightful experience and was able to provide us with information which will help to make a decision about our future regarding lab work.

LASSWADE HIGH SCHOOL CENTRE SUMMER NEWSLETTER Geography Fieldtrip to Sorrento June 2012

The Geography department departed on Saturday 16 June 2012 on a 5 day fieldtrip to Sorrento in Italy. The group of 39 students and 5 members of staff travelled overnight by coach to Liverpool airport where they boarded a flight to Naples Airport.

island before spending the remainder of the day sightseeing and getting some sun (too much in some cases!) on the beach. On Wednesday we took a coach trip along the Amalfi Coast, one of the most beautiful lengths of coastline in Europe, and one of the twistiest, turniest roads ever to allow full length coaches.

The following days were full of organised educational trips.

On Monday we visited Herculaneum – a famous settlement lost beneath a massive mudflow from the eruption of Vesuvius in 79AD. In the afternoon it was off to Solfatara – the dormant volcanic landscapes of Vesuvius. This was an excellent visit to see some „live volcanic action‟ – fumeroles from which gases escape (smelling like stinkbombs) and bubbling mud puddles.

Clinging on the coastline were the stunning towns of Amalfi, Positano & Ravello that slope steeply down to the sea. On return there was free time for shopping in Sorrento town centre, and most of the group made it back in time to catch the correct train (though we won‟t name the ones who caught a train later on!)

Our last full day was spent visiting Vesuvius and Pompeii. The group climbed to the crater rim of the volcano that looks over Naples and Sorrento.

Pompeii was famously obliterated in a matter of hours by the ash and dust fall from the Vesuvius eruption.

Tuesday saw us take a hydrofoil jet to the Isle of Capri. We went on an excursion by boat around this beautiful

LASSWADE HIGH SCHOOL CENTRE SUMMER NEWSLETTER School Band Trip to Germany

The group had a guided tour around the excavations from the most entertaining guide ever, but temperatures around forty degrees meant we enjoyed the shady bath houses the most!

Our evenings were spent doing work, tasks and games…with occasional freetime for watching Euro 2012.

A group of tired, sun-kissed and better educated pupils returned to Liverpool eagerly clutching gifts for their families…to be greeted by freezing temperatures and torrential rain. There is no truth in the rumour that several people had booked return flights on their iphones before we had reached Edinburgh…

Thurs evening, 21 June - "Are we nearly there yet...?"

The driving rain didn't stop the parents and pupils arriving on time tonight for the band trip to Germany, however the jampacked car park nearly stopped us departing!!

The Lasswade High School Concert Band and Midlothian Schools Ceilidh Band, have just left for a week's concert tour of Germany. During the week we will perform 3 concerts in various venues in the Rhineland area.

You can follow our progress throughout the week in this short "blog" which will be updated by the pupils every day.

We have a 20 hour bus journey ahead of us before we reach our destination in the small village of Bad Salzig on the banks of the river Rhine.

You can see that spirits were high as we left and although there were a few teary eyed parents spotted waving us off, there were also a number of very happy looking parents!

LASSWADE HIGH SCHOOL CENTRE SUMMER NEWSLETTER Fri 22 June 2012

Sat 23 June

Feelings of excitement were clear on the journey to Germany and many felt the coach journey and ferry were all part of the experience of culture and travel.

Teachers, pupils and drivers were a great team; considerate and helpful to each other to ensure that we all arrived at our destination safely.

After the long stretch of motorway we arrived in the beautiful scenery of Rhineland. We finally leapt off the bus with joy and briskly made our way to the hotel. After a delicious meal we decided to catch a glimpse of the evening sun and explore the town which was full of excited Germany fans which brought high spirits out of all!

Next stop tomorrow is Cologne... Night night

Today started with an early rise. We headed off to Bonn to visit Beethoven's house, excited for the day ahead!

Beethoven's house was very interesting but the place we were looking forward to most was the Lindt Chocolate Factory.

The chocolate was amazing!

We then got some free time to explore the streets of Cologne. As our concert was drawing closer we stopped off at the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. Everyone enjoyed their meals!

The concert at the church was fantastic.

The audience were very welcoming and Miss Jack's German gave us all a laugh! We played very well and really enjoyed ourselves.

LASSWADE HIGH SCHOOL CENTRE SUMMER NEWSLETTER Sun 24 June

Mon 25 June Our day began with the glorious electronic beeping of our mobile devices. At this point we simultaneously leapt from our beds with sheer joy!

Many a shower, straightener and hairdryer later we emerged from our room and headed down to breakfast (making sure the teachers were awake as we passed...)

We went to Phantasialand for the whole day. The first ride I went on was Black Mamba which had no queue - bonus! It was a thriller, upside down rollercoaster!

It went so fast and we screamed the whole way. After, we ran to check our pictures - very amused!

Another fab ride was "The Talocan" it was arranged in 2 lines back to back.

The ground lowered and the seats spun as well as the whole frame of the ride.

Everyone was screaming, partly from fear but mostly from enjoyment. Our best ride on this was in the rain where it went extra fast and spun extra times. A memorable ride!

After our nourishing and nutritious nibble of the finest German cuisine we boarded the bus with gusto, ready for another joyous ride!

Many a nod-off later we arrived at the Nurburgring and took great glee in trying our hand at race car driving. (Lewis Hamilton can rest easy, we have yet to polish our technique!).

The next event after our splendid midday meal was a rope assault course suspended 15m above us. As the young and raring-to-go band members slipped into the harness and clambered around the course as if it was their natural habitat, the slightly more wary members looked on in terror..!

The next 20 mins of the trip appear to be missing!!!

LASSWADE HIGH SCHOOL CENTRE SUMMER NEWSLETTER In our last full day in Germany we started with a room inspection. The boys' room finally passed! We then headed up to Burg Eltz Castle where we got an English tour to learn about the history of the castle.

Our concert for that evening was set in a quaint little courtyard in Andernach.

Lasswade High School Concert Band provided some well known songs whilst the Midlothian Schools Ceilidh Band performed some fantastically toe-tapping tunes!

Back at the hotel the ceilidh continued with spirits still high from the fun filled and eventful day. The skittles competition brought great glee to the group, with another win for "Team Jack"!

Mon 27 After visiting the castle, we left for Bad Neuenahr. We were given some free time to enjoy the town and get some lunch, then it was time for our final concert which we performed on a rotating stage! As the weather was nice, we played to an outside audience rather than the stage facing indoors.

After a great day out we headed back to our hotel ready for our talent contest and ceilidh. The talent contest showed the wide range of talents that band

LASSWADE HIGH SCHOOL CENTRE SUMMER NEWSLETTER members have, from magic tricks to a very funny scarecrow act! Everyone was amazing but there could only be one winner. This went to Jillian for singing her own rendition of Tracy Chapman's song "Fast Car". She was closely followed by "Team Clarinets" with Heather and then by Myles.

There couldn't be a talent contest without an entry from the staff - which I'm sure no-one will forget!!

We had a little awards ceremony in which everyone got a certificate. The ceilidh band then ended the night by playing a few pieces for everyone to dance to, helping us burn off any remaining energy!